New York Yankees, Hated Rivals Set to Break This 30-Year Old Streak
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been the class of the AL East, and the American League as a whole for quite some time. The Yankees began their dominance in the late 1990s, and less than a decade later the Red Sox joined in on the fun, winning four championships since 2004.
In 2023, however, neither team has played particularly well, and if the current standings remain the same through the end of the regular season, the teams will make a bit of infamous history.
Yankees, Red Sox Set to Break 30-Year Streak if Current Results Continue
As detailed by Bleacher Report, if both the Yankees and Red Sox miss the playoffs in 2023, it will be the first season since 1993 in which neither team qualified for the Major League Playoffs.
That season, the Red Sox finished 80-82, which was good for 5th in the American League East. While they finished with a better record, the 88-74 Yankees would also miss the playoffs. It was the last time until 2008 that could be said.
Unfortunately, neither team looks as if they're overly eager to reverse their respective fortunes this season.
The Yankees are in a bit of a spiral at the moment, having just lost two of three games to the lowly Chicago White Sox. Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole are doing as much as they can to keep the team afloat, but poor performances from the likes of Stanton, LeMahieu, Rodon and Severino are sinking this ship faster than anyone else can bail out water.
In Beantown, meanwhile, things are slightly more optimistic, but only by a fraction. The rag-tag Red Sox have looked like world-beaters on certain nights, but have turned back into metaphorical pumpkins they very next. They were swept over the weekend by the Toronto Blue Jays, another of the teams vying for AL Wild Card status, proving that the hill in front of the Red Sox may indeed be too big to climb.
Now, with one hot week, either team could make their charge up the standings, but both fanbases seem to already have an eye on the 2024 campaign.
September baseball should be a real treat to watch!
*Quietly weeps*